The good, the bad and the in-betweenies on the grid at Silverstone

1. Red Bull 295pts Top of the class. Red Bull have taken six wins in eight races. Or rather, world champion Sebastian Vettel has taken six wins in eight races, claiming an incredible 186 points out of a possible 200. Mark Webber so far not firing on all cylinders. Chances this weekend? Clear favourites. The Adrian Newey-designed RB7 is expected to be lightning quick around Silverstone’s high-speed turns. Red Bull are going for a third win in three years here. But will they be compromised by controversial changes to engine regulations this weekend?

2. McLaren 206 The only team to have beaten Red Bull this year with one win apiece for Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button. But there remains a sense of unease and frustration at Woking due to Hamilton’s erratic behaviour and regular criticism of the team. Their relationship is on the rocks. Chances this weekend? “We can’t beat the Red Bull right now. We just can’t. They would need to fall off the track for me to beat them.” Lewis Hamilton’s Silverstone prediction following the last race in Valencia suggests McLaren’s hopes lie with the weather and the change to the engine regulations.

3. Ferrari 129 Still without a win this year, team principal Stefano Domenicali is a man under pressure. Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo hinted as much last week when he said: “We must fight for the win at every race.” Fernando Alonso is frustrated and Felipe Massa’s future in jeopardy.Chances this weekend? Interestingly, Ferrari have remained silent throughout the row over the changes to the rules on engine mapping. To many this proves that not only did the Scuderia push the FIA to introduce them but that they will profit accordingly. We shall see.

4. Renault 61 The injury to lead driver Robert Kubica on the eve of the season did Renault no favours. There is some doubt over whether the Pole will ever return to Formula One. In his absence, the team have been unable to capitalise on a strong start to the year with Vitaly Petrov and Nick Heidfeld. Chances this weekend? Not good. The ban on the ‘off throttle blown diffuser’ is likely to affect Renault more than any other team due to the nature of its innovative front-exiting exhaust system.

5. Mercedes GP 58 Another underwhelming season for the Brackley-based team. The hype of 18 months ago, when Michael Schumacher came out of retirement to spearhead a new era for the Silver Arrows seems a distant memory. Nico Rosberg still has Schumacher’s number. Neither one close to winning. Chances this weekend? Not brilliant. Norbert Haug, vice-president of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport, has already said the team cannot expect to challenge the top three at Silverstone. “We all will focus on achieving a decent result,” he said.

6. Sauber 27 There is a freshness to Sauber with their two young drivers in Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez, the latter back now after a huge accident in qualifying for the Monaco GP. The Swiss team have also had some decent results this year and are noticeably easy on their tyres. Best of the rest, as it were. Chances this weekend? Good chance to score decent points. Kobayashi was sixth at Silverstone last year — his best result of the season — while it has also been a happy hunting ground for Perez who won twice here in F3 and once in GP2.

7. Toro Rosso 16 Toro Rosso’s season has been more interesting for developments off track. New sponsors Falcon Private Bank are owned by Aabar, the Abu Dhabi investment fund which also owns 40 per cent of Mercedes. Potential buyout in the offing. Chances this weekend? Jaime Alguersuari bought himself some more time in the Toro Rosso with his eighth place in Valencia. He may still find himself replaced by reserve driver Daniel Ricciardo sooner rather than later. Toro Rosso be on the cusp of points.

8. Force India 12 The car has gone backwards over the last couple of years but the emergence of Paul di Resta this season has been a plus for the Silverstone-based team. Team mate Adrian Sutil already has enough on his plate with a potential court case upcoming following allegations made against him of GBH. Chances this weekend? Chairman and team principal Dr Vijay Mallya has not set the bar high, remarking after Valencia that he was “pleased to be back in the points” with Sutil’s ninth place. “We are determined to carry our good form into Silverstone,” he said.

9. Williams 4 Desperately disappointing season thus far but big changes afoot. Williams, who became the first team to float publicly earlier thisyear, have announced a return to Renault engines from 2012. Will it inspire a return to their glory years? With Sam Michael soon to leave and McLaren’s former engineer Mike Coughlan (he of ‘Spygate’) among those coming in, it is all change on the technical side too. Chances this weekend? Veteran Rubens Barrichello is worried he won’t be able to remember the names of the corners at the revised Silverstone. “They’ve moved the start/finish straight, so we’ll have to remember that Abbey, which we used to refer to as Turn 11, is now Turn 1!” says the Brazilian.

10. Team Lotus 0 Still the best of the three new teams who came in last year. Still searching for their first points. Their season has so far been dominated by the court case with car company Group Lotus, which cost both parties millions and resolved nothing. Chances this weekend? Not great. Still need a good half a second per lap needed to catch up the midfield teams. But with changes to engine regs the new teams may find some of their rivals come back towards them.

11. Hispania 0 Still not bringing much to the party, although they have just announced a new majority shareholder in the form of investment group Thesan Capital, who apparently intend to make more of the team’s Spanish background and eventually move it to a new base in Spain. Chances this weekend? Non-existent. The chief point of interest will be to see how Toro Rosso reserve Daniel Ricciardo fares on his F1 debut. The Australian, expected to get a seat at Toro Rosso or even Red Bull in the near future, has replaced Narain Karthikeyan in the HRT to gain some experience.

12. Virgin Racing 0 A friendly, welcoming team but one who are starting to toughen up off the racetrack. Nick Wirth, who promised much with his all-digital approach but delivered little, has gone. And the Anglo-Russian team has signed a partnership deal with McLaren Applied Technologies. Promising.Chances this weekend? With the team having already decided to switch their focus to the 2012 car, the omens are not good for an immediate change of fortunes. As usual, will be scrapping with HRT to avoid the ignominy of coming last.